A standard slicing machine has an input table that can be reciprocated longitudinally past a normally circular rotating blade to cut slices from a foodstuff, for instance a piece of meat or cheese, sitting on the input table. On the other side of the blade the slices are picked up by a conveyor, typically a fork-, belt-, or chain-type arrangement having a vertical support plane and provided with a multiplicity of sharp points so that the slices can be caught on the conveyor as they issue from the downstream side of the blade. A transfer fork has tines engaged between adjacent elements of the conveyor and can be pivoted to pull the slices off the conveyor and deposit them on an output table which is positioned horizontal underneath the downstream side of the blade. Thus as the input table is moved back and forth, slices are cut from the foodstuff thereon, these slices pass the blade and are picked up the conveyor, and the transfer fork deposits them in a stack on the output table. Such machines are described in detail in my earlier U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,185,527, 4,217,650, 4,338,836, 4,379,416, 4,586,409, 4,598,618, 4,763,738, and 4,867,257.
In the standard system the foodstuff is held down on the input table by a pivotal holddown arm that is spring loaded to press the foodstuff down against the input table. Thus the foodstuff is retained on the table by this holddown assembly. This holddown assembly is spaced some distance from the cutting plane defined by the cutting blade and the end plate that is coplanar with the edge of this blade. Hence at the start of an operation reducing a foodstuff to slices substantially the entire length of the foodstuff projects from the holddown assembly to the blade plane. Only near the end of the cutting operation is this assembly reasonably close to the blade plane.
Some foodstuffs, for instance soft cheeses or worsts are fairly soft so that as they rub against the end plate they are deformed substantially. As a result the cut is not square and elliptical pieces are cut from a circular-section foodstuff and rectangularly elongated pieces from a square-section foodstuff. This is not generally considered satisfactory.
Thus it is known in manually fed slicing machines to provide a holddown immediately adjacent the blade plane on the input table. This secondary holddown must be specifically adjusted relative to the foodstuff being sliced, and also must be readjusted periodically so it does not get caught by the blade. Such an arrangement is not usable on a slicing machine with an automatic feed.